


Carnivale

by Dragonsquill (dragonsquill), PatchworkIdeas



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Carnival, Fluff and Smut, M/M, history au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:42:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27351412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsquill/pseuds/Dragonsquill, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PatchworkIdeas/pseuds/PatchworkIdeas
Summary: Freedom, fun, and unabashed affection.Tonight, they can have it all!
Relationships: Fíli/Kíli (Tolkien)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	Carnivale

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Linane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linane/gifts).



Venice glass works were beautiful works of art, and Kili wished, not for the first time, that he could share them with Fili. Or, failing that, that Fili could switch places with him at least. Fili loved crafts, in a way Kili never had. He appreciated them, could talk shop with the artists and ensure the quality was good enough - more than good enough, really - but he didn’t live and breath workmanship the way his older brother did.

The peace talks must be boring him out of his mind.

Fili was good at diplomacy, in the way anyone trained their whole life as heir would be, but he didn’t enjoy the careful dance of words and promises meant to be broken. He preferred straightforward honesty and, unlike Kili, wasn’t particularly outgoing.

Not for the first time, Kili silently cursed their birth order and Thorin’s stubbornness. He loved being the younger brother, but apparently the order of their birth was more important than their actual talents in the world of the highborn, or the fact that their complementary personalities worked best in a partnership.

Late at night, during those short moments they were away from prying eyes, they would often commiserate about all the things they would change, once Fili became king, with Kili ever at his side.  
Kili knew their lives would become even more busy, but he had promised himself he would make sure Fili would get time to actually follow his passions, and not just live to serve others.

But that was a long time away, still. Barring any unexpected and unwanted attacks or illnesses at least. So Kili had organized something a bit more… immediate.  
He was still giddy, thinking about it. It had taken all of his talent to pull it off. Several favors, words in just the right ears, a couple of deliveries that got delayed or sped up due to copious amounts of coin - and his silver tongue, very carefully manipulating their uncle until he got what he wanted.

Thorin had always had a soft spot for Kili. And Kili would never stop using it to give Fili the life he deserved.

And today’s scheme was his masterpiece.

They were both fully booked during the day, making it unfortunately impossible to show him the incredible artworks and sights of Murano Isle, but the night? Those were _theirs_.

And it was Carnivale.

Thorin probably hadn’t been aware that all the paperwork he had intended for them to do in their chambers while the party raged outside had already been done - that people had been paid off to complete anything that didn’t involve state secrets. And really, with all the masks and costumes, who would know that it was two princes slipping out into the night, and not just two strangers, out for a good time? Two young men were handsomely paid to sleep in their beds at night, just in case - one dark head and the other golden, covers tucked up over their chins.

Finishing his business - along with buying a little glass lion for Fili so he could have _something_ \- Kili took a boat back to Venice proper, eager to return to the local residence Thorin had commandeered for then, giddy and excited for the wildest night of his life.

-

Fili laughed when Kili revealed the costumes, and Kili felt as if he had won a war.  
Fili’s sparkled in blues and deep browns, encrusted with gaudy stones perfect for the occasion. The sheer brown hose showed the curve of his leg in a way that would catch every eye on the street - and for once, Kili wouldn’t have to pretend not to notice. Because tonight, Fili would wear the mask of a summer god, green leaves and branches, completing a vision of life and vitality.  
Kili helped him buckle and tie and button in, their valets having been given the night off. Better if no one knew they were out and about during the Carnival, incognito and without guards. Thorin was no less strict with their servants than he was with Fili himself. 

“Beautiful,” he said, stepping back to take in the fall of loose honeyed hair, the hint of black kohled eyes behind the mask. He’d given in to temptation and bought the less popular three fourths mask, the one that let him see the curve of Fili’s lips.

Wonderfully kissable, and not so difficult, he learned, with Fili’s mask on.

“Now you,” Fili said with a grin, and the whole process began in reverse. Kili had worked quickly, wanting to see the final product, wanting to escape into the festivities. But Fili was ever the patient one, and a terrible tease. His gloved fingers caressed over bare skin, brushing provocatively through each button and tie. He knelt before Kili and carefully tied the codpiece, fingers brushing until Kili was shivering with want.

“If I come already, these trousers will be ruined,” Kili said breathlessly.

Fili pressed his lips where his fingers had been, just once, before he stood. “As if I would let you finish so quickly,” he purred, “tonight of all nights.”

Kili wore blue as well, but mixed with grays and blacks, speckled with diamonds like stars. His mask brought to mind not the earth, but the heavens - a swirl of color, black feathers and dark blue leather embellishments. A night sky to watch over a growing world, the moon a soft reflection of light above a verdant forest and the god who walked there.

“Perfect,” Fili said, and of course he understood the meaning of their costumes at once, and treasured it.

While Fili would never wear anything like it in court - he could, but he abhorred the unnecessary shows of wealth while they had people starving in the streets - the glitter and color was perfect for the occasion.

Fili had no idea how his brother had gotten his hands on them without King Thorin noticing.

They slipped out through the servant passages, emerging onto the streets and into crowds of riotous costumes and thousands of masks.

-

The festivities were overwhelming. Fili was glad now that Kili had turned down his initial idea of making a game out of finding each other - they never would have. Even knowing their costumes, going arm in arm, it was a struggle to stay together in the midst of the revelry. Around them, couples of all kinds danced and swayed and kissed - in dark corners, soft moans betrayed more intimate activities.

The night might be young, but the alcohol had apparently flowed early.

Dancing their way through the crowd, their eyes flickered over the fire spitters, the rope dancers overhead, the myriad of food and wine on offer everywhere, but they always came back to each other, their gazes heated. It might have looked like it was a shove too many that brought their lips together, had them kissing, touching, in plain sight, masks slotting perfectly when their lips met, but it was more the heady realization that they could, that nobody would care.

If anyone had followed them, they would have lost sight of them by now. Nobody knew they were brothers, nobody knew they were anything but two strangers coming together after too much wine to share a night of passion and excess.

Nobody knew better but themselves.

Kili’s eyes were sparkling with mischief managed, a stark contrast to Fili’s blue eyes, blown wide with lust, with wanting, with being free to be whomever they wanted for one night.

There was no doubt between them how the night would end.

They traded heated kisses and bites, press of bodies around them forgotten, unimportant, nothing but a shield from prying eyes.

The mood of the event pulled them along - free of all chains and duties, free to be who they really were behind their gilded masks.

It was intoxicating.

Fili pressed his nose into Kili’s throat, finding his scent and hearing his full belly laugh ring above the masses, before it drowned in the roar of the crowd.

They were drunk on nothing but freedom, and nothing had ever felt better than Kili’s hand in Fili’s hair, and Kili’s tongue wrapped around his, limbs tangled, pressed together both by them and the faceless crowd around them.

The laughter and joy rang loudly, colors bleeding into each other, and they only noticed they had drifted aimlessly along the crowd when they were released from it, stumbling against a nearby wall.

They breathed, spell broken, looking at each other until laughter spilled from their lips at just how lost they had gotten in the feeling.

It was Kili for once who caught himself first, coming closer until his mouth brushed Fili’s ears.

“I have another surprise for you, my love. Follow me.”

Hand in hand, pressed by choice, they skirted the edge of the plaza until they reached the canal. The gondoliers would be working the whole night during the festival, and waving one down was easy.

The roar grew quieter as they pulled away from the main square, though joy and music were spread even in the poorest parts of the city. The water gave them the needed space to breath, to slowly return from this alien world they had glimpsed and lived in for the last hours.

Fili didn’t want it to end yet. Fili never wanted it to end, he would endure endless noise and light and people everyday if it meant he could be that open with his love again.

But Kili smiled, wicked, with just a hint of teeth, and Fili knew the night was far from over.

He didn’t know how Kili had managed to get a room for them during the busiest time in the year, without a name asked, or a look given, but he was grateful.

-

Clothes scattered across the rich carpet, layer after layer, ties and buttons and lace strewn carelessly without the help of experienced valets. But each piece was removed with deliberation, a slow waltz - a tease of revealed skin.

Fili pressed his lips to Kili’s bare wrist as the gloves slid off, lace against his cheek and Kili’s pounding heartbeat against his mouth. Kili mouthed at Fili’s revealed throat as cloth fluttered from his fingers, breathing in the scent of leather and cloves. Shoulders were worshipped, hips and elbows and thighs and-

The masks, finally, beautifully made and suddenly beloved, because without them, they couldn’t have hidden in plain sight. These, they set carefully on the wardrobe shelf before falling to the bed at last in laughter and love.

-

Light was dawning when they made their way back, sleepy but happy beyond belief. It was with heavy hearts that they hid their costumes and separated to prepare for another busy day.

But not before Kili fixed Fili’s clothing, taking care to hide the hickeys with a cheshire grin, and whispered in his ear:

“Remember, we are staying three days. See you tonight.”

Fili might not get much sleep this trip, but he had never been happier.


End file.
